Defector: The Alex Mogilny Story

[Jim Bob]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/hockey-documentary-defector-wins-canadian-screen-award/

The full video is embedded in the story.

Click to read more...

 

[Reddawg]

This is utterly amazing, thanks for sharing it.

 

[Dex]

That was quite a story. I remember the excitement over his arrival and the great years that followed. That 76 goal year was something special.

 

[Jim Bob]

"Alexander Mogul-Nee is in the country."

 

[OkimLom]

That was fantastic. I always enjoy this kind of stuff.

 

[Paxon]

Interview from shortly before his defection:

 

[Gabrielor]

One of my favorite Sabres of all time, and my avatar-sake.

 

[old kummelweck]

Curious if this pissed off his red army team mates like Federov?

 

[Myllz]

Curious if this pissed off his red army team mates like Federov?

It did. Fedorov said as much during his interview.

 

[Paxon]

Curious if this pissed off his red army team mates like Federov?

I'm sure it did no favors for their treatment as they likely all fell under some level of suspicion as a result. As Fedorov said, they were all questioned. He clearly projected that he wasn't happy about the defection at the time.

 

[Jim Bob]

I'm sure it did no favors for their treatment as they likely all fell under some level of suspicion as a result. As Fedorov said, they were all questioned. He clearly projected that he wasn't happy about the defection at the time.

From what Fetisov said in Red Army, I sounds like the big issue was that Alex was the first guy to pull it off and they were all a bit jealous that they didn't get the same chance he did.

Fedorov had it a lot better than the older guys, like Fetisov, who never got to come over in their primes.

Fedorov turned 21yo during his rookie NHL season.

Fetisov was 31yo when he made his NHL debut.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0017871990.html

Look at all those good young players that got to come over only a year or two after Mogilny made his NHL debut. Who knows if they would have gotten to come over that soon if Mogilny didn't defect?

 

[Myllz]

I still think it's crazy that the Red Army's top line at the time was Mogilny - Fedorov - Bure.

 

[Jim Bob]

I still think it's crazy that the Red Army's top line at the time was Mogilny - Fedorov - Bure.

It wasn't really.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0017871989.html

They still had the KLM line. Along with Kasatonov and Fetisov to make up the Russian 5.

 

[old kummelweck]

I wonder how hard they tried to contact Mogilny for this, or if he just didn't want to discuss it?

 

[Paxon]

From what Fetisov said in Red Army, I sounds like the big issue was that Alex was the first guy to pull it off and they were all a bit jealous that they didn't get the same chance he did.

Fedorov had it a lot better than the older guys, like Fetisov, who never got to come over in their primes.

Fedorov turned 21yo during his rookie NHL season.

Fetisov was 31yo when he made his NHL debut.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0017871990.html

Look at all those good young players that got to come over only a year or two after Mogilny made his NHL debut. Who knows if they would have gotten to come over that soon if Mogilny didn't defect?

What I said isn't about how Fedorov and others had it relative to older guys, it was about what likely happened as a result of Mogilny's defection. Like you said, jealousy likely played into any negative response the team had, as well having felt that Mogilny abandoned them as a team, but an immediate impact of his defection was that the team had to be questioned about their knowledge of Mogilny's actions as well as, I'm sure, an intended crackdown to prevent such a thing from happening again.

Of course, things changed rapidly after that, but I wouldn't ascribe much of it to Mogilny's defection. He left right after the World Championships, which ended May 1st. Hungary allowed the crossing of its borders into the West (Austria) in mid-August. GDR head Honecker resigned in October. The Berlin Wall effectively fell (was opened, somewhat inadvertently) on November 9th. In other words, the Iron Curtain ended in the months after Mogilny's defection with the Warsaw Pact falling apart in the months to come. The USSR itself dissolved in late 1991. I'd say that has more to do with anything than Mogilny having set a precedent or opened any doors. I say that with the fullest respect for what Mogilny did because it was awesome. It's one of the best off-ice hockey stories of all-time and he's my favorite player of all-time.